Being an Indie Game Developer

Being an Indie Game Developer

Being an indie game developer, especially a new one, is full of challenges. From deciding which language or which game engine would be best for developing your game, to learning a new vocabulary and plotting out your development strategy.

Indie Game Developer Challenges

The learning curve can sometimes seem daunting.

When you add meeting the challenges of daily life (i.e. professional and personal obligations) to meeting the challenges of creating a new game, it can be overwhelming. As a result, your indie game developer dreams sometimes fade into the background. But that’s actually okay, as long as your game ideas are still visible and you keep moving toward your finish line.

The Indie Back Burner

Putting your game on the back-burner from time to time can be good. It seems counter-intuitive, but it actually allows you to come back to your game with fresh ideas and new programming skills. Fill in that absence from developing your game with exposure to the field itself.

Some Game Exposure Examples:

You only have fifteen minutes of “free time” to commit to your game today? Watch a short video tutorial, read forum comments regarding a problem you encountered, sketch or write out an idea, or listen to a podcast!

Did you manage to reserve thirty minutes for actual game development today? Focus on making one small change or addition to your game.

Got an hour to spare, but aren’t in the mood to write code? Join the Youngstown Game Developers (or your local game developer network) at a Meetup and get inspired!

Small Step Are Good

Consistently taking small steps towards your game prevents your game from fading too far into the background. It keeps you actively engaged in your game and brings your dreams closer to reality. So get to it!

This is a guest post by Judy Bollinger, a Youngstown Game Developer member.